1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements for the assembling of a measurement or production setup, in particular with regard to the connections linking two or more components of the setup.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to assemble measurement or production setups manually from a plurality of components. For this purpose, the assembly and correct connection of different parts to be assembled are inspected visually and/or manually. Before putting the assembly of the components into operation, an operator has to check all connections and may consult technical data sheets and select feasible components in order to assemble the setup according to predetermined specifications.
As the complexity of measurement or production setups increases, designing and configuring a plurality of components as well as the connections between them becomes increasingly difficult. This issue is particularly important for single-use equipment within the biopharmaceutical industry where, for example, a disposable container has multiple connections for the input and output of fluids, for receiving power, for communicating with sensors or other elements and the container is further connected to other equipment containing multiple components and connections to form a complex setup configured to carry out a single unit operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,749,396 B2 discloses an augmented reality system that employs variable markers associated with setup components to decide whether a connection between two components is established correctly or not. WO 2011/154072 A1 discloses an augmented reality system that utilizes markers associated with setup components to decide whether two components are compatible or not.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method, a visualization system and a computer program product that enables an operator to design and optimize a measurement or production setup by efficiently configuring its connections and components.